Problem after Windows update

I have just had a Windows10 update, and, as after previous updates, I have to re-enter my activication code (which is the one I was sent when I upgraded to Dorico 3.5) to be able to get back into Dorico. This is always annoying, of course, but in the past I have done it successfully - not this time however. I have downloaded the latest elicenser, been through all the steps, entered my activication code, then there is a message saying ‘Currently, there is no license available which can be upgraded by your upgrade license.’ Then it mentions connecting a USB-eLicenser. Help please.

Is this a regular thing with Dorico? I have to say it doesn’t happen with Sibelius.

The step that people often seem to forget is running the elicenser Control Center application with administrator privileges. Have you right-clicked and run as administrator, then allowed it to perform maintenance tasks etc?

Yes - I’ve done all that.

Well in that case, log into your MySteinberg account, find your Dorico license and use the Reactivate button. It’ll generate a new code for you.

P.S. No, for most people this isn’t a recurring issue, just as for most people Avid Link works fine. For some people the eLicenser is a pain, and for some people Avid Link shuts them out of Sibelius every single month.

I’m grateful for your help, but I’m afraid that didn’t work. It asks for a new Soft eLicenser number, and the one in the Control Centre is the same as the old one that is displayed, so I can’t progress. I have contacted Steinberg Support but they won’t answer for several days. Any more ideas?
The Activication Code I was sent when I upgraded to 3.5 should still work, shouldn’t it? I’m sure it did with previous version when I had the same problem.

Activation codes can typically only be used once, and upgrade activation codes can only be used where a license for a previous version of the software already exists on the computer or dongle. Even if your Dorico 2 or 3 license existed in eLicenser Control Center, the chances are that on inputting your 3.5 upgrade code you’d get a “this code has already been used” message.

With any luck someone from the development team will reach out to you more quickly than Steinberg support. Do keep checking this thread.

Thanks for your help. I have been contacted by someone from Steinberg Support for further details, so I hope they can sort it out. Thanks again.

Even with ongoing help from Steinberg Support - who contacted me very quickly - I am still not able to open Dorico. Does anyone in the development team have any ideas please.

What advice did our Support give you and with what are you stuck right now?

PJM, can you please make a screenshot of what appears in eLicenser Control Center when you run it, so we can see what licenses are present? Please obscure the actual eLicenser number in the screenshot before you attach it here.

Daniel - thanks for your reply. I attach screenshot of eLCC window, also one after entering Activication Code.


Ulf - thanks for your reply. Firstly I was asked to send a screenshot of the eLCC main window and my Activication Code. Then I was asked why I wanted to reactivate it, and what happened when I opened Dorico Pro 3.5. I explained that after the Windows 10 update, I had been through the same steps that I had successfully done before to reactivate earlier versions of Dorico after a Windows update, but Dorico Pro 3.5 would not open. I explained I was not trying to change computers. Then I was asked if the DCOM error comes up when I open Windows in Safemode (which it did). That’s as far as we have got.

Hm, with the eLCC 6.12 version that DCOM error shall not come anymore, because with that version we don’t use DCOM anymore for the communication, instead a completely different technology. It almost appears to me that you have 2 version of eLCC installed at the same time, which actually can’t be under normal circumstances. How about a screen sharing session so that we could check together? If you agree, please send me a mail to ‘u dot stoermer at steinberg dot de’ and we’ll sort the details.

Thanks for your offer, Ulf. As was suggested by your Support I uninstalled eLCC and reinstalled it - not just once but several times. Also I entered the Activication Code many times. I clicked on Dorico icon and received error messages. Then all of a sudden - and I don’t think I did anything different - I clicked and Dorico opened. I have no idea why. So for the present all is well and I hope will stay so until the next Windows update at least.